Council Tax been passed to Equita

ginstar

I am hoping that someone can help me please.

In a nutshell, I have been overpaying my council tax every month since the beginning of the financial year and as I have not paid on the 1st of everymonth the council have passed my outstanding debt (the remainder of my council tax bill ) to Equita for collection.

I have written to the associate director of the revenue department of the council to no effect and they have simply passed my concerns on to their complaints team.

To say i am bewildered is an understatement.

Regardless of this, i am still in receipt of the demand for full payment from Equita including a £75 compliancy fee. They have advised me that I need to contact them by tomorrow evening to pay in full and if i fail to do so i will have bailiffs knocking at my door.

I am at a loss what to do and any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

To confirm, I have overpaid my council tax - not missed any payments and because i have paid on the 28th of the month (when i get paid) and not the 1st - they have deemed all of my payments as late. :-(:mad::mad:

Please help me

[Deleted User]

Surely, if you have overpaid, you will be ahead :huh:

~Beanie~

So if the first payment was due on 1st April are you saying that you paid on 28th April and then on the 28th every month after that? Or did you start on 28th March?

How much have you overpaid by?

ginstar

Hi, I paid on the 28th April and on the 28th of every month after that. The overpayment was minimal each month - by about £5-£10 so y about £60/70 in total.

I am bemused as to why it has gone this far to be honest. The council customer service manager provided me with no assistance at all just a very lengthy email regarding what letters had been sent, what payments had been made etc.

McKneff

You say that you have paid on the 28th of each month.


You say it is due on 1st, you are being 27 days late Every single month........ whether you have overpaid or not,


They are correct.....

[Deleted User]

ginstar wrote: »

The overpayment was minimal each month - by about £5-£10 so by about £60/70 in total.

I take it £60/70 is less than 1 months payment?

For the future, may I suggest you do as I do, and make the first payment in March instead of April, thereby staying a few days ahead each month.

National_Debtline

Hi ginstar

Council tax payment systems are automated and not necessarily set up to distinguish accounts where payments are regular, albeit late, from those where payments are being missed altogether.

Councils will generally issue a maximum of two late payment reminders in any given year before calling in the whole year's bill and seeking a liability order through the magistrates' court to recover it, before then passing the debt to bailiffs like Equita.

It's unlikely that you will be able to dispute the legitimacy of the liability order as the council records will reflect the persistent late payments.

Re: the bailiffs

- They should give you seven clear days' notice of any visit as a minimum.

- You do not have to let them in. They cannot enter without your consent.

- If you own a vehicle, you should either secure it in a garage or park it a safe distance away where it is unlikely to be identified by the bailiffs.

In the meantime, if you are able to continue offering the same overpayments, that is what I would propose to the bailiffs for starters.

Please have a read of the following fact sheet which you may find useful:

https://www.nationaldebtline.org/EW/factsheets/Pages/02%20EW%20Council%20tax%20recovery/Default.aspx

Regards

Dennis
@natdebtline

CIS

The advice I would give in future is to ensure that you make a payment at the end of March for your April's payment so you're always going to be paying a few days in advance.

MyNameIsOliverQueen

I overpaid once on council tax with former council, but received an unpaid notice even though I had been in to the cash office and paid over the counter. When the customer service person looked at the account, he could see the payment, and told me that their systems will automatically send out unpaid notices if the amount paid differs from the actual monthly payment amount!! Even if overpaid by 1p or £100, their system would send the letters out.